Barneys New York And The Walt Disney Company Launch Holiday 2012 Program: Electric Holiday

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2012 /CNW/ - Barneys New York, the luxury specialty retailer, and The Walt Disney Company, the world's leading entertainment company, launched the 2012 Holiday project Electric Holiday at the Barneys New York Madison Avenue flagship store. A multi-platform initiative infused with fashion and fantasy, Electric Holiday merges the creativity and magic of Disney with the wit and surprise of the legendary Barneys New York annual holiday project to create a celebration of festive modern electric lights, music and fashion.

"Disney is proud to be part of New York's holiday magic this year," said Robert A. Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. "Together with Barneys, we've created a one-of-a-kind experience that combines Disney's great characters and storytelling with high fashion for a spectacular celebration of the season."

As part of the Electric Holiday program, 25% of sales from the limited-edition Electric Holiday product collection sold at select Barneys stores and Barneys.com will be donated to the American Red Cross. This is in addition to the $2 million dollars The Walt Disney Company has already pledged to support relief efforts, including $1 million to the Red Cross for immediate relief and an additional $1 million to support rebuilding efforts in Hurricane Sandy affected communities. In addition, Disney/ABC Television Group organized a national "Day of Giving" on Nov. 6 2012, seamlessly integrating outreach messaging across various programming and raising more than $18 million for the American Red Cross.

THE ELECTRIC HOLIDAY WINDOWSThe Electric Holiday program and the Madison Avenue flagship's windows were unveiled featuring 'Electric Holiday', a moving art video starring Minnie Mouse on a fun, fabulous fashion adventure in Paris, along with an array of notable fashion personalities and Disney characters.

"Disney is a magical brand and Barneys New York is a surprising brand. We feel we've captured both the magic and the surprise with this holiday project," said Mark Lee, Barneys New York CEO. "It has been a dream to collaborate with Disney and we at Barneys are grateful that they found it intriguing to mix characters from our different worlds in this way."

Capturing the essence of the highly stylized fashion world along with the electrically-charged colors and brilliant lights of the magical world of Disney, the video begins with Minnie dreaming of the glamour of Paris. In her dream, she is whisked away to the City of Light, where she comes face to face with revered fashion personalities and takes the runway along with Mickey Mouse, Daisy Duck, and more in fabulous designer fashions. The storyline concludes happily when Minnie wakes up and Mickey presents her with the same designer dress she has just sported in her dream on the catwalk.

The moving art video was conceived to be a playful interpretation of the high fashion world, and will screen for a six-week period in the Madison Avenue windows, as well as in Barneys flagship stores across the country. To help bring the show to life, Oscar®-winning composer Michael Giacchino has created an original score. The video is exclusively on barneys.com, Disney.com and AOL.com.

Each Disney character is dressed in a one-of-a-kind exclusive look created by some of the most influential fashion designers in the world, including:

Mickey Mouse: Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquière

Goofy: Balmain by Olivier Rousteing

Daisy: Dolce & Gabbana

Minnie Mouse: Lanvin by Alber Elbaz

Snow White:Nina Ricci by Peter Copping

Tiana: Proenza Schouler

Cruella de Vil: Rick Owens

Using innovative technology and hardware, the Madison Avenue windows features unique display technology using Christie® MicroTiles® from Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc, on which the video will play. Working with d3 Technologies' integrated production system which power the core of the show, utilizing five 4U servers generating 20 simultaneous HD video streams. An OSRAM Business, Traxon the dynamic lighting and controls manufacturer, supplied almost 500 square feet of LED Mesh and String, as well as intelligent controls to add a layer of video to the window display.

THE ELECTRIC HOLIDAY PRODUCTBarneys New York and Disney have worked to create a range of exclusive (XO exclusively ours), limited-edition holiday gift items, available now for a limited time only at Chelsea Passage on the ninth floor in Barneys' Madison Avenue flagship location in New York, at the company's Beverly Hills flagship location, and Barneys.com.

In honor of this special project, 25% of the retail price of all items in the Electric Holiday collection sold exclusively in select Barneys New York stores and Barneys.com through January 3rd, 2013, will be donated to American Red Cross disaster relief.

The product assortment includes Disney's highly collectible Vinylmation figures designed by Paul Smith and Diane von Furstenberg, Mickey Mouse ears designed by Rag & Bone and L'Wren Scott, and smaller items such as holiday ornaments, edible sweets, toys for children, and much more.

In addition to the Electric Holiday product assortment, there will also be a curated selection of vintage memorabilia available at the Madison Avenue flagship location, including a vintage Mickey watch, a signed biography of Walt Disney and specialty vintage Disney toys.

THE ELECTRIC HOLIDAY MYSTERY GIFT CARD HUNTTo celebrate this special event, Barneys New York hosted a New York City-wide scavenger hunt for gift cards on November 14. A "Mickey Messenger" was posted at various locations throughout Manhattan, and only by following clues on Twitter (@BarneysNY) and Instagram (BarneysNYofficial) were participants able to find him. When participants found the Mickey Messenger—identifiable from his Mickey Mouse ears—they simply gave him the secret password to receive a mystery gift card with a value anywhere between $25 to $500. One lucky grand-prize winner received tickets to the evening's window unveiling event.

THE ELECTRIC HOLIDAY SPONSORSBarneys New York and Disney have collaborated with AOL and Air France, to help further engage the consumer with the Electric Holiday program.

Barneys NY, Disney and AOL have collaborated to create a co-branded media experience surrounding the Electric Holiday project. Acting as the project's digital arm, AOL's StyleList brings the legendary window online with an exclusive showing of the animated short film and behind-the-scenes footage.

Air France is supporting the Holiday 2012 project with an integrated promotion to include a nationwide sweepstakes inviting shoppers and Facebook fans to enter to win a trip to Paris, including two roundtrip business class airline tickets on Air France, four night hotel accommodations at the Hotel Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg, a $5,000 wardrobe and luggage from Barneys New York, and two tickets to Disneyland Paris.

The Electric Holiday moving art video will be displayed in all Barneys New York flagship markets including Beverly Hills, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Scottsdale, Dallas and Seattle, as well as on Barneys.com and its luxury content site, The Window.

About Barneys New YorkBARNEYS NEW YORK (Barneys) is a luxury specialty retailer with flagship stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale. The Company also operates a highly successful online business at Barneys.com. Founded as a men's retailer in 1923 in downtown Manhattan, it turned into an international arbiter of high style for both women and men in the 1970s and became renowned for discovering and developing new and innovative design talent. Barneys is famous for selling the most intriguing edit from the world's top designers, including women's and men's ready-to-wear, accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and gifts for the home. Barneys' signature sense of wit and style is manifested in its creative advertising campaigns, original holiday themes, and celebrated window displays. Barneys' innovative CO-OP was launched in 1985 and has since expanded into a freestanding store concept operating more than a dozen locations in eight states across the U.S. For more information about Barneys New York, please visit www.Barneys.com and explore its luxury content site, The Window, for an insider's look into the Barneys world: behind-the-scenes visits with exciting designers, fashion, events, and the Barneys team.

About The Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenues of about $40.9 billion in its last fiscal year.

Ever since Walt Disney founded his world-famous company in 1923, the name "Disney" has become synonymous with boundless creativity and an unbridled imagination that helped define the 20th century. Today, The Walt Disney Company and its affiliated companies remain faithful to their commitment to produce unparalleled entertainment experiences based on the rich legacy of quality creative content and exceptional storytelling. From television and movies, to theme parks, merchandise, virtual worlds and beyond, Disney delights consumers and guests everywhere with magical stories, beloved characters and unparalleled family entertainment and experiences.

About AOLAOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is a brand company, committed to continuously innovating, growing, and investing in brands and experiences that inform, entertain, and connect the world. The home of a world-class collection of premium brands, AOL creates original content that engages audiences on a local and global scale. We help marketers connect with these audiences through effective and engaging digital advertising solutions.

About AIR FRANCEAIR FRANCE, with its three regional subsidiaries, Brit Air, City Jet and Regional, operates 1,500 daily flights in France, Europe and worldwide. Its fleet comprises 387 aircraft in operation.AIR FRANCE KLM, the result of a merger between AIR FRANCE and KLM in 2004, is one of the leading European air transport groups. Its main activities are the air transport of passengers and cargo as well as aircraft maintenance. In 2011, AIR FRANCE KLM carried 75.8 million passengers and 1.1 million tons of cargo. The group's fleet comprises more 586 aircraft, including 173 regional aircraft operated by its partners Brit Air, City Jet, Regional and KLM Cityhopper. Its network covers 230 destinations in 113 countries from its hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol. The Flying Blue frequent flyer program is leader in Europe and has over 20 million members. AIR FRANCE and KLM currently operate from 12 U.S. gateways and provide service from 125 U.S. cities through joint venture partner Delta Air Lines. With their partners Delta Air Lines and Alitalia, AIR FRANCE and KLM operate the biggest transatlantic joint venture with more than 250 daily flights. AIR FRANCE and KLM are members of the SkyTeam alliance which has 16 member airlines, offering customers access to a global network of over 14,700 daily flights to 958 destinations in 173 countries. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.airfrance.us, call 1-800-237-2747 or contact your travel professional. For deals and the latest information follow Air France on facebook.com/AirFranceUSA and Twitter @AirFranceUS.

About Christie®Christie is a global visual technologies company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., Japan, (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the world's most advanced projectors and complete system displays, Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images.